The Nightmare Cycle:  Dreams and Nightmares
by 7moondance
Summary: What might have happened prior to Act 1.
1. Dreams and Nightmares

The Nightmare Cycle Part I:

Dreams and Nightmares

The dream always began the same way. He was standing under a white satin canopy in a large candle lit room. All around him were smiling faces and murmurs of approval. His happiness was so palpable that he could almost hold it in his hand. Then as it often does in dreams, the scene shifted and he was watching her walk toward him, her face covered by a white veil. He had planned to make some sort of humorous remark when he lifted the veil, but once he looked into those exquisite eyes, the quip died in his throat and he whispered reverently, "She's the one."

They were borne aloft on chairs while the wedding guests danced around them. Laughing, he put out a hand to steady her. His android bride, Dorothy, was tiny but quite heavy. Even four of their strongest friends had difficulty keeping her chair balanced. Around them were more smiles and more murmurs.

"Aren't they a cute couple?"

"She's so tiny and he's so tall."

"Such a nice boy, so charming and so smart!"

A slight note of dissent, "But they're so young she's only 18, he's barely 20."

"Nonsense," laughed Timothy Wayneright. "It's good for a man to marry young." He winked, "Keeps 'em out of trouble."

Alex Rosewater cornered the young man. "May I talk to you alone for a few minutes?"

It was more of a command than a request. "You have unique gifts, my boy, you should use them. Have you thought about my offer?"

"Yes sir, I have, and my answer's the same," the boy responded politely. "I have the greatest respect for you and Paradigm Corporation but the university's offer is simply too good to pass up."

At that moment he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see his adoptive father. "Son, your bride is about to throw her bouquet, you don't want to miss this."

"Thanks for rescuing me, Dad." He shuddered as they walked briskly toward the staircase. "Rosewater gives me the creeps. There's no way in Hell I'll ever work on a weapons system especially one he plans to control."

"Good for you, Son. Rosewater is right about one thing, though. You do have a brilliant mind and I'd hate to see you waste it working for that jerk." The older man smiled at his son. "Have I told you how proud I am of you?

"Not in the past hour."

"Well let me fix that. Your mother and I are very proud of you." He punched his son lightly on the shoulder. The boy smiled and punched back.

"And that, my dear, is how men say 'I love you' to each other." He turned to see his mother and his new wife smiling at him.

"Just giving my new daughter-in-law a little lesson in male-speak. Gentlemen," she continued. "It's almost time for the bride to throw her bouquet and for the two of you to leave for your honeymoon."

His wife stood on the staircase, her back to the young women assembled below. She smiled at him, and then tossed the bouquet over her shoulder, laughing at the good-natured scuffle that followed.

The scene changed again. They were lying together after making love. He couldn't remember a time when he felt happier. He loved teaching, he loved his research, he loved his wife and she loved him.

"Your mother once told me that a good marriage was the closest that we could get to heaven on earth," she said gazing into his eyes.

"My mother is right," he said his finger tracing the outline of her cheek.

She sighed. "I just wish Father would accept it that you like your work at the university and stop trying to persuade you to work for Paradigm Corporation."

"Don't worry about it, my love," he said feeling his eyes close. He pulled her closer. "He'll come around eventually."

Another scene shift, they were sitting side by side on their bed, eyes focused on the blue stick she held in her hand. The minus sign on the stick was gradually fading and the plus sign was growing darker.

"Yesss!" he shouted. "We're pregnant!"

A montage of scenes and sensations followed, the smiles on faces of his parents when he proudly announced that they were going to be grandparents, the awe of feeling their baby kick for the first time, the look of excitement on Dorothy's face when they shopped for baby furniture, the feel of the paint brush in his hand and smell of the bright yellow paint they had chosen for their baby's nursery.

The montage came to a halt in the foyer of Alex Rosewater's home. Rosewater had invited Dr. Wayneright and the young couple to dinner.

"Do the words 'vulgar ostentation' come to mind?" he whispered to her looking around the room.

"Behave yourself, dear, or I shall have to punish you," she whispered back with mock severity.

He grinned. "Oooooh! Will you wear your spiked heels and pointy bra?"

"Only if you behave yourself, Louse," she replied trying not to laugh.

Another scene change, he was alone with Alex and his father-in-law.

"Are you sure I can't persuade you to try some of this brandy or one of these excellent cigars, young man?"

The boy politely demurred.

"My son-in-law neither drinks, nor smokes," said an unusually subdued Wayneright.

"If you spent as much time as I have studying the effects of alcohol and tobacco on the human body you wouldn't touch the stuff either," the young man said good-naturedly.

"How is your research going?" asked Wayneright.

The boy's face grew animated. "Great, the crossover between silicon and carbon-based medical technology is amazing. It's allowing the blind to see, the deaf to hear and..."

"Androids to have babies," quipped Wayneright.

"That too," the boy said with a self-conscious smile.

Rosewater frowned. "That's all very noble." His voice grew louder "My boy, do you realize that you are one of the few who can control the power of the gods? **That** is what you were born to do. Why do you continue to deny your destiny?"

The boy looked steadily at the older man. "Mr. Rosewater, I'm not sure what my destiny will be. All I know is that I want my child to grow up in a peaceful world and that won't happen if I become part of that abomination. With all due respect, sir, I'd rather make my living robbing banks!"

"Is that your decision, boy?" asked Alex.

"Yes, sir, it is," he responded.

"You are a dammed fool then," hissed Wayneright. "May the gods help you."

The room grew hazy.

The boy awoke strapped to a table in a brightly-lit room. "What's going on?" he asked dazedly. "Where's Dorothy?"

"I am standing next to you," she answered in a monotone. He tried to concentrate, tried to figure out why she seemed so different. Then he realized that her face held no emotion and her normally expressive eyes were blank.

"Dorothy, are you all right, sweetheart?" he asked still dazed then with a shock saw that her stomach was flat. "The baby," he gasped. "What happened to our baby?

I'm an android," she replied tonelessly. "I am not capable of reproduction."

He looked at Wayneright. "What's wrong with her?" he demanded. "What did you do to my wife?" Wayneright looked away. Suddenly the boy knew what was wrong.

"You reprogrammed her, didn't you? You wiped her!" he shouted struggling against the straps that bound him. "You killed her, you bastard! Your own daughter! How could you do this to your own daughter?

"I was just trying to erase her memories of you. I didn't mean for it to go this far. Son, please believe me, this is the only way I could keep you two alive."

"There is no need to shout," Dorothy said flatly. "Everyone in this room is able hear you."

The scenes became more disjointed.

He heard Rosewater's voice. "So sorry about your parents' accident. A pity that neither survived."

A weird looking man with long wavy gray hair walked up to him. He held a small blanket-wrapped bundle in his arms. "Don't worry about your daughter, boy, I'll take good care of her." The man laughed then turned and walked away.

The young man watched numbly as two men lead a scruffy looking, dark-haired man across the room then everything went black.

When he awoke he saw the same pair guide a tall, handsome man dressed in an expensive black suit to another table.

"That bum really cleaned up nice, didn't he?" said one of the men.

"Yeah, must have been one of old Rosewater's failures, but he should take the imprinting well. They usually do."

"What do you think will happen to the donor, poor kid."

"He's not our problem. Our instructions are to shift personal memories but leave intelligence and programming capabilities intact."

The boy heard a buzz and began screaming as he felt the memories that made up his self draining away. "How can you do this?" he screamed. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Jason Beck woke curled up on a cot in a small, ugly, gray cell. His anger and hatred were so palpable he could almost hold them in his hand. "How could they do this to me?" he moaned still half asleep. He wasn't sure who he hated more, the old white guy who had destroyed everyone and everything he loved, or the young black one who was with… with...her. With who? As his dream receded, Beck vainly tried to remember why he was so angry.

He awoke fully when he when he saw two armed guards and a sissy wearing a pinstriped suit standing in the doorway of his cell. The sissy introduced himself as Alan Gabriel. "If you help Alex Rosewater you are a free man. Otherwise…" Gabriel emitted a high pitched giggle. Beck made his choice instantly and followed Gabriel out of the cell. He now belonged to Alex Rosewater.


	2. Chapter 2

Nightmares and Gardens

Dorothy looked out over her garden with a mixture of satisfaction and pride. The last of the rhubarb and asparagus had been picked a few days ago, but the lettuce, green beans and squash were ready to be harvested and the neat rows of corn and green peppers continued to ripen nicely. She looked down and patted her swollen belly with a soft smile. "This time next year, you'll be able to help Mommy water the garden." She flicked the switch of the watering stick to shower and pointed it at the vegetables. Laughing softly she remembered the day Jason and his father had tried to prepare the ground for planting with a roto-tiller they had borrowed. As she and her mother-in-law, Lilly, watched the men from the kitchen window it became obvious that getting the machine to work was an exercise in frustration.

Lilly grinned. "Who do you think will crack first?" she asked, "Your husband the child engineering prodigy or my husband the banking genius?" Dorothy had felt slightly alarmed until Lilly scooped up the instruction manual, walked up to the two men and handed it to them with a tactful smile. After that, work went smoothly and by dinner time the garden was happily entered into the Beck family's long list of traditions.

Dorothy's reverie ended when she realized that no water was coming from the hose. She yanked on it a few times then looked directly into the nozzle. Water burst forth, soaking her face, hair and the front of her overalls. Sputtering, she looked across the yard and saw her young husband holding the hose and laughing.

"Your ass is grass, Jason Beck!" she cried running towards him shouting with mock fury. "And here comes the lawnmower."

"Got to catch me first," he teased and took off in a run.

With a flick of her wrist, Dorothy raised the hose like a lariat and the next thing the young man knew he was laying on the ground with his wife astride him.

"The hose was caught between a couple of rocks and I was going to be a good boy and release it," he said smiling up at her. "But when I saw you stick your face into the nozzle, I just couldn't resist. Forgive me?" he asked with a grin.

"Of course I do, Pookie," Dorothy answered with a saccharine smile then quickly slipped the nozzle under the waistband of his shorts and flicked the switch to on.

"Hey that's cold," Jason protested laughing as he grabbed for the hose.

Within the space of a few minutes the young couple lay on the ground, soaking wet and helpless with laughter.

Dorothy looked up at the sky. Although their house was under one of the domes, it was completely surrounded by corn and wheat fields. "Two blocks past the middle of nowhere," was the way her father described the location.

Sometimes two blocks past the middle of nowhere is the perfect place to be, she thought reaching for her husband.

"You're soaked to the skin," she said. "You'd better get out of these wet clothes before you catch cold," she told him lifting his shirt over his head.

"You too," he responded, unclipping the fasteners of her overalls.

Dorothy smiled up at Jason, admiring the way the sunlight caught his unruly blond curls, making it look as if his head was surrounded by a golden halo. They gazed into each other eyes for a long moment then his lips parted slightly. The young android's own lips parted and she closed her eyes, waiting for his kiss. After a long moment, she felt a drop of water splash on her cheek. She opened her eyes to the glare of white lights and saw tears running down her husband's face.

Concerned, she tried to ask him why he was crying, but no words came out. Why couldn't she speak? Why was she strapped to a table? Why did Jason look so different? He looked older, harder and where did he get that ugly yellow suit?

"Just a few seconds more, Dorothy," she heard him whisper. "Then no more pain, no more fear and I'll make sure Roger finds you."

She wanted to remind him that today was Friday and that they were expected at his parents for dinner but when she tried to open her mouth to speak everything went black.


End file.
